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Downtown Marquette Farmers Market Grand Opening

The Downtown Marquette Farmers Market's Grand Opening is on Saturday, May 19. This year's Grand Opening will feature music by Jeff Nelson from 9am-1pm. There may not be tomatoes and sweet corn yet, but the market will still have plenty of delicious food to offer, as well as a great selection of vegetable and flower garden starts. In celebration of the local food that is available early in the growing season, the Marquette Food Co-op is sponsoring two food demonstrations that will use produce available at market that day. Join us at 11am and 1pm for a cooking demonstration by Abbey Palmer, who volunteers with one of our vendors, Rock River Farm. The Co-op and the Downtown Development Authority are also sponsoring a children's activity together, and will supply the soil and seeds for children to start seeds of their own to take home.

The market has a lot to celebrate this year. We received not one, but two grant awards which increase our community's access to fresh, healthy food. Many people have already heard of the USDA Farmers Market Promotion award of $46,000, which will be used to purchase tents for vendors, better facilities for the market information booth, and provide funds for various types of market promotion.

The second grant award was from the Fair Food Network, "a national nonprofit that works at the intersection of food systems, sustainability and social equity to guarantee access to healthy, fresh and sustainably grown food, especially in underserved communities." Our market's grant award is through the Double Up Food Bucks project. Under Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB), families who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are given the means to purchase more Michigan-grown fruits and vegetables at farmers markets while supporting local food growers and the local food economy. How? Each time a SNAP recipient runs a Bridge Card at market, he or she receives double the amount of money. In other words, if a Bridge card is swiped for $10, our grant funding enables us to give out $20. This extra money can only be used for fresh, Michigan grown produce sold at the market, which frees up the original Bridge card allocation for other groceries found at the market, such as meat and bread.

"Everyone deserves access to nutritious food," says market administrator Sarah Monte, "and Double Up Food Bucks helps make that access a reality for everyone in our community, regardless of income. Produce at the farmers market is already comparable to grocery store prices across Marquette, but this program makes shopping at the market even more appealing and directly supports our farming and artisan food community."

The market will be held every Saturday, rain or shine, from 9am-2pm until the end of October. Bridge card, Market FRESH, Project FRESH, credit, and debit cards are all accepted. We are taking bookings for music at the market, so if you would like to perform, or if you have any other questions about the market, you may call Sarah at 225-0671 ext. 23.

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Downtown Development Authority
Mona Lang, Executive Director

Phone: (906) 228-9475
Fax: (906) 228-6288
Office: 203 S. Front Street, Suite 1-B
            Marquette, MI 49855

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